When a property is sold the first day on the market – is it undersold?
Results-wise, when a property sells within days of hitting the market, should the vendor have waited to see if they could have achieved a higher price? With many years as an agent and principal, Real Estate Coach on Demand, Lisa B, shares her thoughts on the matter:
When a property is sold the first day it’s listed, what do you think?
I saw comments about this in a Facebook group recently, with many saying that they believed a property is undersold if it sells on the first day — I could not disagree more.
In real estate there are two sides to every sale. Sometimes an agent spends months and months with a buyer, sometimes even years. They can spend loads of time with both the seller and the buyer.
Sometimes you know exactly what your buyers are looking for. You know precisely what they want. You understand how much they will pay for it. You also recognise when a property is worth more to a certain buyer than to others.
As a conventional real estate agent, we work for the seller. They are the ones that pay us.
Two to tango
Now to the other side of the equation — you also know your seller. You know their needs and their wants. What happens next, comes down to the agent’s skills in determining what’s the best thing for the seller. Sometimes both of these people and their situations match perfectly. At times they make for the absolute best sales.
I started in real estate in 1993. I have owned real estate offices in multiple areas, consulted to real estate companies, as well as train and coach. You realise that the longer you are in real estate, there are no black and white areas.
One such area is this topic. I want to talk about a real case scenario, to show you that sometimes a property exposed to the market can actually, quite frankly, stuff up a sale.
Sometimes, you need to strike whilst the iron is hot. Sometimes, it’s better not to involve others in the mix.
A first-hand observation
A friend was selling a property recently, whereby the next door neighbour wanted to buy the adjoining property. The neighbour was willing to pay a large price to secure the property, at a price the seller was over the moon to accept. It seemed obvious the home was destined to be sold the first day. However, the listing agent convinced the sellers to go to auction. After the auction process the next door neighbour was able to see that there wasn’t a lot of interest from any other buyers.
Yes. The agent did all the right things and marketed the property perfectly, followed up and performed to the best expectations.
I also know for a fact that if this particular property had not been auctioned, it would have sold to the neighbour — the best buyer was in the agent’s hands.
Why it’s OK for a property to be sold the first day
Knowing this, the agent still suggested that the owners spend thousands of dollars on advertising to take the property to auction. The owners were disappointed with what eventuated. The property did not sell. The owners were of course upset by the whole process and ended up selling the property for a whole lot less to another buyer.
Not acting quick and striking while the iron was hot — not bringing two perfect sides of the equation together at the right time, eventually cost the seller loads of money, as well as costing them time.
This particular auction definitely mucked up what could have been a perfect sale.
I base these comments on this and may other experiences where I have seen some excellent results, and some that fell way short of the mark. Whether sold the first day or not, If you have any thoughts on the subject, then by all means please contact me. Happy selling.
Lisa B.